T5 HO lighting questions

buddy08

SPS Addict
I have a few questions about my lighting and wanted insight and opinions on which would give me great lighting and a colorful spectrum in my tank while also promoting healthy coral growth.

I built my canopy and installed 4x 54watt HO t5 lights pushed by a ARO VHO ballast and am using reflectors with them. I currently have these bulbs (2 of each) :



UVL T5 V-HOR 454 "Ultra Blue" (85% TriBand Blue 15% 420nm Nichia Phosphor)


and



UVL T5 V-HOR AquaSun (50% Triband Blue 50% Triband White)


What im considering is to replace my ballast with an icecap ballast. Will this make these bulbs brighter? Does it really increase the "wattage"?

I also want to add 2 more bulbs making it 6 in total so i keep more sps's in my tank, provide better lighting for my maxima clam, and eventually add an anemone and more clams in the future.

another question, will these bulbs run hotter with an ice cap ballast? My LFS carries these below and so far, they've been great bulbs. Out of the ones below, which would you recommend? Locals in my area on our community website were discussing their lights and it made me question mine. I suppose i could go buy a bunch of bulbs and see which look best but in all honesty, I haven't a clue which are more beneficial to my tank nore do i understand the colorful bar graphs explaining which each do. Help please :bowdown:



UVL T5 V-HOR Indigo Sun (50% Triband Blue 50% Triband White)



UVL T5 V-HO 75.25 Bulb 14000K



UVL T5 V-HO Actinic White Bulb 12000K



UVL T5 V-HO Super Actinic Bulb 420NM



UVL T5 V-HO Red Sun Bulb 633NM



UVL T5 V-HOR AquaSun (50% Triband Blue 50% Triband White)



UVL T5 V-HOR 454 "Ultra Blue" (85% TriBand Blue 15% 420nm Nichia Phosphor)
 
I've never heard of UVL bulbs before. With that being said, are you set on buying your bulbs locally or will you consider getting them online?

You should go to reefgeek and talk to them they will give you great advice and find you the perfect bulbs to get the color and light intensity you're looking for. With that being said, for T5s I believe the ATIs are the best bulbs on the market right now.
 
its a local thing, but i dont mind buying online. i've only used the bulbs above but am up for recommendations
 
I agree ATI is probably the best on the market and the guys over at reefgeek are great to deal with..
 
Use the ATI bulbs that Reef Geek recommends. Also, Icecap went out of business, I'd gl with 2 Workhorse 7 ballasts.
 
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